


He's Cool.

by MalaproposMongrel



Category: ARMS (Video Game)
Genre: Blink and you miss it blood, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Crushes, Do not be fooled everyone who is not ramen or ninja are very brief, F/M, Fluff, Like mechanica is mentioned in a single sentence okay, The pretense to the fight is supposed to be ridiculous, Then get into a fight over anime, They are nerds and bond over anime, They get drunk and angry over dumb things, This is the most heterosexual thing i have ever written, Very very brief blood, Where are min mins parents??? Not here thats for sure, relationship building, underaged drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 04:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalaproposMongrel/pseuds/MalaproposMongrel
Summary: Min Min decides to talk to the newest Arms Fighter, and finds they have a lot in common. She invites him on a totally-not-a-date, and things get out of hand quickly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ffffcjajjs. So know how we don't know much of anything about this world yet? Yeah I am taking a LOT of liberties throwing in head canons. Be it with the character's personalities or how the world works... I even invented anime with characters for these nerds to talk about.
> 
> I am almost certainly going to regret those headcanons when we recieve more world building but until then? Idc i had fun writing this.
> 
> Here's a fun game. Guess which fictional character they talk about is my original ARMS oc!!! The winner gets... a pat on the metaphorical back.
> 
> Anyhow. Enjoy these dumb nerds I love.

Min Min walked out of the Get ARMS Room, feeling pleased with herself. She had gained two new ARMS, the slamamanders and the sparkies, and she beelined towards the training room so she could get a feel for them. On her way she was halted by the sound of Spring Man and Ribbon Girl's hushed chatter and laughter. She approached her competition, feeling social.

"What's funny?" She asked, making the two fighters spin around to face her, both clearly surprised by her presence. She blinked, awaiting an answer, and Spring Man sniggered.

"Just look," he stated, and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. Min Min stood on her toes to peer over, ignoring Ribbon Girl's soft giggle. 

Seated a few yards away was one of the newbies to professional arms fighting, Ninjara. He sat on a large sofa in the middle of the ARMS Grand Prix lobby, dressed like he was ready to train, sans any gloves. He was simply reclining, reading a manga. He had difficulty handling the small book with his elongated ARMS, and cursed under his breath as he dropped it, causing Ribbon Girl and Spring Man to muffle their laughter once again.

Min Min cocked her head, unsure why they found this funny. Doing everyday things with ARMS is always difficult in the beginning. She understands his desire to practice, mastering menial tasks with your ARMS permits better tactics in the rink. The ability to make a decent bowl of ramen with her ARMS made her punches more precise and timing more accurate. Being able to perform an entertaining display on the hibachi even more so.

The two fighters began conversation again, turning their attention to each other, but Min Min continued to observe the ninja student. His ARMS were chains, which she found very interesting. Everyone's ARMS showed something important and personal relevant to the person, her own noodle arms being a proven factor. She found the rough chains fitting to a supposedly dedicated ninja in training. He wore what appeared to be a latex suit - a one piece? Min Min could not tell - with a high collar and a chest plate bearing his symbol as a fighter. The cook briefly acknowledged his outfit, then focused on his hair. Neon green and styled to be the perfect shape of a shuriken, how did he DO that?

"He's... Cool." Min Min mused quietly, unintentionally cutting Spring Man off mid sentence.

"He's WHAT?" Spring Man asked, tone somewhere between amused and incredulous. Min Min turned slightly to look him in the eyes.

"He's cool." She repeated. "Well, he looks cool anyway." 

Both fighters flinched when Ribbon Girl squealed at an incredibly high frequency. "Min Min! Oh my god, you like him!"

Min Min frowned as Spring Man rubbed his ears. "All I said is he looks cool. I've never even talked to him."

Ribbon Girl grabbed the cook's shoulders, making her tense out of fighting habit, considering the singer still had on her slapamanders. "DUH! You think he looks cool! And loving someone's look is the first sign of a crush!"

"Oh." Min Min uttered, dumbfounded.

Ribbon Girl's smile split her face. "You should talk to him! Right. Now."

"Ribbon, why are you trying to get fighters to date? That's just screaming for trouble." Spring Man argued with a frown. Ribbon Girl rolled her eyes.

"Um, this isn't like a high school or something, Springy. We can date whoever we want!"

Min Min felt this was getting slightly out of hand, so she began to sneak off when the singer released her so she could focus on arguing with Spring Man.

"What about when you fight each other? Would you want to punch your boyfriend?" 

"Uh, yeah! Totally. Make up for when he's done something stupid in the past. Plus it sounds totally exciting to be in the ring against a lover!" Ribbon Girl sighed dreamily, Spring Man making a pained noise.

Min Min turned her back on the two when she was far enough away, walking over to the seated ninja. She plopped down on the other side of the couch at a respectful distance, but made herself known by quietly staring.

Ninjara slowly raised his eyes from his book. He had sensed the girl coming from a distance, but planned to ignore her as she showed no signs of aggression. Yet it was apparent she was here for a reason, made clear by the intent look in her eyes. 

"... Hello." Ninjara quietly greeted. He recognized her from TV, as every single one in his college was turned on when anything regarding ARMS Fighting was on, no exception. Her name was Min Min, his senior by ARMS Fighting experience, but not by age. He found her ability to kick as a block and to transform her left arm into a dragon impressive. He took some of her tactics under his belt while studying his opponents. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous to be in her social presence.

"Hi." Min Min returned politely, and leaned forward. "What are you reading? It looks interesting."

"Oh." Ninjara looked at his manga which had become steadily more beat up at his mishandling. He cleared his throat sheepishly. "It's an old ARMS Fighting comic. It's not really that popular..."

Min Min observed the page he was on, seeing a scantily clad girl with ridiculously over sexualized proportions and sleek, metallic looking ARMS in the ring with a giant mammoth of a man, who was clearly losing. The artstyle and characters looked familiar to her, but she couldn't put a finger on it...

"Oh, is that... 'Butterfly Slam?'"

Ninjara looked at her in surprise. "Uh, yes. It is."

Min Min smiled, scooting closer. "Oh cool. I used to read that series when I was younger. What issue is that?"

Ninjara relaxed, having been slightly worried about her first impression of him being jeopardized by his reading a commonly trashed series. "Forty eight." He answered.

Min Min's eyes widened. "Forty eight?! I only owned seven volumes!"

The ninja chuckled softly. "Well, I'm actually pretty far behind. I think there's around sixty something issues now."

"Wow. I had no idea. Guess I'll have to pick it back up. Have you read 'Take it to the Ring?' The main protagonist is pretty similar to Butterfly."

"No, I haven't read it, but I've watched the entire anime adaptation."

Min Min's eyes sparkled. "The anime is so good! The writers really remained true to the original story!" She unconsciously scooted closer, and Ninjara put down his book in favour for the conversation.

"I hear that pretty often. Who's your favourite fighter?"

Min Min took no time to ponder the question. "Titanium." She answered with a sense of certainty, then smiled. "He's just so cool! He's so small but so strong! No one can use his ARMS because they're so heavy, and he can do so much with them! Remember when he punched the pillar behind High Flyer, and she thought he just missed her but then the pillar broke and fell on her? That was so awesome!"

Ninjara smiled at her declaration of admiration for the fictional character, and nodded. "That was a really intense scene. Titanium is really noble, but my favourite is Cotton Fist. She's so cute but still so hardcore, you know?"

"I do know!" Min Min agreed excitedly. "Her double pillow guard is so useful too! I like to pretend that I'm doing that move when I kick block, honestly." She laughed softly.

Ninjara also laughed. He found this piece of information incredibly endearing. He was worried about facing her in combat because of her persistent block, and knowing that she did it pretending to be Cotton Fist was frankly down right cute.

Min Min smiled softly. "I also really ship our two favourites."

"Really?" Ninjara asked, surprised. He didn't take the cook for a shipper.

"Yes! The way they care for each other all the time... It doesn't matter if they're fighting together or against each other, they never hurt one another! And they fight together so fluidly, even whenever they didn't know each other and were just fighting the same villain! And in the alien invasion arc when Titanium was struck down and Cotton Fist abandoned her place at the front of the battle just so she could go check on him and defend him even in the absolute climax of the conflict-!" Min Min was ramping up with excitement, then realized she was ranting.

She looked down in embarrassment, but when she glanced back at Ninjara, he was watching her with interest and a soft smile.

"Sorry... I get really passionate about them." She chuckled sheepishly.

Ninjara shook his head. "Not at all. I completely get it. They're up there for my favourite ships. My personal OTP of 'Take it to the Ring' is Sleepfighter and Dream Boy." Ninjara sighed. "They are, quite literally, two halves of one whole."

Min Min laughed happily, ready to talk in depth of the great dynamic between those two characters (and compliment him on his contextual play on words), when her phone alarm went off. She hastily apologized and checked it, mentally cursing herself. 3:00 p.m. Her training time was over. She had completely forgotten that she had been intending to go try out her new ARMS, and now that time was up. She had to get back to the restaurant for her shift.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go," Min Min sighed. She stood up quickly, missing the flash of disappointment that passed the ninja's face.

"Alright... When... Um, do you want to talk some more later?" Ninjara asked quietly. Min Min turned around to him, and smiled.

"I do. I'm going back to my restaurant. I imagine you know where it is?"

Ninjara absolutely knew, considering it was also the location of one of the fighting rings of the ARMS Grand Prix. "Yes, I do."

"Well, it closes around seven. If you want, you could come sometime after that. I could open the doors for you, and could make some ramen for the both of us." 

Ninjara flushed slightly, and also stood up, storing his book in his bag. While this sounded shockingly like a date with a professional fighter and his competitor that he met only half an hour ago, Min Min lacked any air of flirtation or hidden motives behind the offer. Ninjara weighed his options, then decided the prospect of supposedly free food trumped all possible cons.

"I'll be there."

Min Min smiled, and nodded. "See you then." She started to turn away, when she came to a stop. She spun around, and bowed.

"Forgive me! I never introduced myself! I am Min Min." She righted herself to see Ninjara chuckling.

"I know." He answered with a smile.

Min Min flushed. "O-Oh, yes..." Then stopped as Ninjara also bowed. 

"And I am Ninjara."

Min Min smiled crookedly. "... I know."

Ninjara straightened up to smile at the cook. "See you at seven."

They parted ways, and Min Min sighed happily as she walked towards the side exit of the large building. She skid to a stop when she rounded a corner and nearly collided with Spring Man and Ribbon Girl, who were grinning at her knowingly. Min Min's face grew warm.

"Man, I didn't know you were such a nerd Min." Spring Man laughed.

"YOU ASKED HIM ON A DATE! AND HE SAID YES!" Ribbon Girl squealed, ignoring the blue fighter. She picked up the smaller girl and spun her around while laughing, Min Min yelling to put her down.

When the singer released her, she faltered slightly due to dizziness. "It's NOT-" She started, gaining her footage. "A date. We're just meeting up to talk about anime."

"Yeah. That's a date for dorks." Spring Man pointed out, making Ribbon Girl giggle.

Min Min rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm late for work." She muttered, pushing past the laughing fighters quickly, so they wouldn't see how red her face is.


	2. The Totally-Not-Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninjara arrives at the Mintendo Noodle Shop for the meetup with Min Min, and everything goes smoothly! That is, until one core difference and and argument that follows ramps the totally-not-date into overdrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags are edited! I also upped the rating a bit because of the new content
> 
> EDIT: golly i posted this at twelve am last night and didnt realize the html had gotten all jumbled. Its a good thing i know the absolute basics of coding or else i would have had a much harder time correcting it! Everything should be fine now. Enjoy!

Ninjara walked up to the Mintendo Noodle House, surprised at how massive it was. Surely not all of this was the restaurant… Wasn't it a family joint? He walked up to one of the windows that lined the front of the store, and examined his reflection.

He had his hair up in its usual fashion, save it being slightly looser, a few strands hanging down his forehead. He wasn't wearing his mask, figuring he didn't need his ARMS for a pleasant meal with a fellow fighter. (Yet it was stored away in his bag. A ninja must always be prepared.) He was dressed in street clothes, trying to look casual yet still trendy, and momentarily stressed over whether or not his hair looked too messy.

Finally figuring _“ugh, good enough,”_ he made his way to the front entrance. He tried the door, which opened easily. He stepped into the massive area, marveling at how open the space was. There were paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling over sparsely placed tables and chairs, the walls lined with booths. On the far wall was a bar, and the sizzling of stoves could be heard from that direction.

Ninjara ventured further into the eating area, following the noise. He rounded the wall where the ticket machine sat and the menus were stored, and saw Min Min further down the bar with her back turned to him, cooking on the stove tucked behind the counter. The layout wasn't like typical noodle shops that Ninjara had visited in the past, but he supposed that was to be expected considering the sheer size and popularity of this particular venue. 

He forgot that thought when he saw that Min Min was cooking with her ARMS. She lifted her right arm high above her head, and Ninjara realized it was a dragon. Its mouth opened and shot out the hot beam towards whatever she was working on, and lowered once again. The ninja noted this with interest. He knew that dragons were used for cooking long before fighting, but he had never seen this fact in action. 

Min Min seemed unaware that he came in, and he briefly fretted that he was early. Fishing his phone from his pocket, he saw it was 7:08 p.m. He was on time. He stepped forward to sit on a stool that was placed behind the busy cook, and was about to speak up when she turned around.

_“Yaah!”_

Ninjara flinched at her sudden exclamation, and they both stared at each other with wide eyes.

“他妈的...” Min Min cursed under her breath, then took a step forward, attempting to compose herself. “I’m sorry… I didn't hear you come in.”

“It's okay, I should have made myself more aparent.” Ninjara replied. He was used to moving silently and not wanting to make himself aparent.

Min Min looked back at the food she was preparing, and realized she started cooking for the two of them without asking the ninja’s preference. She smiled sheepishly and took off her gloves, setting them further down the bar. She then untied her mask, making her ARMS morph from noodles to flesh.

“I got a bit ahead of myself. Let me lock up, and I'll get you a menu.”

(‘-’*) (*ﾟｰﾟ)ゞ

Everything went rather smoothly after that. Ninjara asked for a bowl of peking meat sauce noodles, and Min Min made enough for two. She had to put the seafood stir fry she had been making previously into a fridge for storage. She also brought a bottle of sake and two glasses. Ninjara knew Min Min was not of age, but didn't mention it. It was her restaurant after all.

The food was delicious. He told her so and she brushed it off, saying that she made it quickly and didn't put her usual effort into it (not to mention the fact that she wasn't expecting payment for it). The ninja made a mental note to come here during business hours some time.

And they talked anime. They talked about Take it to the Ring, discussing fan theories and headcanons, while delving into the character traits of protagonist and antagonist alike. Then they ventured into other anime, finding out they both liked quite a few of the same shows. They also suggested some for the other to watch, recording the titles in a memo in their phones to remember.

They eventually relaxed and spoke less formally, becoming comfortable interjecting each other in conversation, offering different opinions, and straight up arguing. Anytime the argument got revved up and one of them started becoming too irritated, they would take a meditative breath, and sip a bit of sake, making the other party laugh heartily. This action served as an end to all arguments.

Until Min Min mentioned liking the voice actor for Titanium in the English dub.

Ninjara set down his glass, swallowing his mouthful roughly, having it burn the whole way down. “You… Watch English dubs?”

Min Min looked surprised. “I do. I put them on the tvs around the shop so I know what's going on when I'm working.”

Ninjara cocked a brow. “So when you have time off, you watched the original subbed, right?”

Min Min laughed sharply, bulking a bit at his obvious apprehension. “Well, no. I'm not much one for reading something I'm supposed to be watching and-”

“That's such a lazy excuse!” Ninjara interrupted forcibly. Min Min scowled.

“-AND because between fighting and managing the restaurant, I hardly have any spare time at all.”

Ninjara waved his hand around his face, which had grown slightly flushed with his alcohol intake. “Well when you do have spare time, watch the subs. Or maybe, I don't know, don't watch anime when you're busy?” Ninjara sneered, expression converting to his fighting face. Min Min grew hot from anger.

“If I saved time to watch anime only when I can give it my absolute, undivided attention, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. I'd be in my room, with my computer, watching Take it to the Ring…” She leaned forward, and snarled. _“With the English dub on.”_

Ninjara groaned loudly out of irritation, unable to believe that she couldn't see the light. “Subs are better in every way, Min Min! They are the _original_ cast, chosen by the _original_ writers, acting out the _original_ script! The relation to the characters and stories are stronger because it's being presented in the original format!”

“Well,” Min Min huffed, “That may be true to you, considering you speak Japanese, but I would have to be reading an English or Mandarin translation either way. Watching the dub is just a far more convenient form of reading subtitles!”

Ninjara stood up so forcibly that his chair clattered to the floor behind him. He didn't know what he planned to do afterwards, but it seemed the most aggressively dramatic thing to do in the moment, and he was just glad he didn't stumble over. Had he really had that much to drink?

When his swimming vision cleared, he saw that Min Min had also stood, and was locked into a fighting position, a habit that sprung forth from his sudden aggression. She glanced behind her to the bar, where she had left her mask and gloves.

Ninjara couldn't hold back a small smirk, as he leant down to his bag that was sitting on the floor, unzipped it, and pulled out his mask. He displayed it in front of him, holding each end by two fingers.

“Want to take this outside?”

(p_･q)(p･_q)

The moderately intoxicated pair stood on opposite sides of the Ramen Bowl, picking their arms and getting ready to fight. It was late, they had been talking for upwards of an hour, so luckily there weren't many spectators to witness their scrabble.

If Ninjara didn't have the sake in his system, he wouldn't have jumped to the proposition of a brawl over some subs vs. dubs dispute with a well seasoned professional ARMS Fighter. He wasn't self conscious of his own fighting skills by any means, but he knew the Ramen Bomber wasn't a name to take lightly. 

The words of reason echoed distantly in his mind as he equipped the chakram and the triblast, and was ultimately ignored as he rolled his shoulders and stretched out his muscles. He looked over to Min Min, who had chosen the megawatt and the dragon. Ninjara noted that the dragon was, in fact, on her dragon arm. Common sense was replaced with fighting knowledge as he straightened up, giving a few test punches.

“Are you ready, ninja boy?!” Min Min called over, making Ninjara perk up. His brow furrowed seriously, and he silently nodded. 

_Ready?_

_ARMS!_

Immediately Ninjara jumped forward and warped, reappearing mindway down the bowl and throwing out his arms in a grab. Min Min was quicker, kicking away his arms with ease. She took his arieal vulnerability to throw her dragon, lasering him out of the air. While he was down she crouched and grit her teeth, charging until her right arm expanded into strong scales. 

Ninjara hopped up and jumped out of the way of a slowly incoming (and fully charged) megawatt, but was once again shot out of the air by the laser beam of the dragon. He felt the burning sensation of the charged arm, and flung himself upwards and immediately threw his chakram. Min Min stepped to the side to dodge it, but the flying disk wacked her head as it flew back, making her stumble. Wasting no time Ninjara dashed and hit her with a newly charged triblast, paying her back for burning him.

When she fell to the ground, Ninjara came to the realization they were not alone. He had been focussing so hard on the fight he didn't hear the uproarious cheering begin. Looking around in surprise, he saw the Ramen Bowl was surrounded by spectators, all of them pumping their fists in the air and screaming incoherently, if any of them were using words at all.

“Isn't this a surprise, folks?! A completely unscheduled and completely informal match- if their trendy street clothes were no indication -between The Ramen Bomber and the newbie to ARMS Fighting, The Student of Stealth!”

Oh good lord, was that Biff? Where the hell did he come from?! Did that mean they were on TV? 

Ninjara reveled in his shock for too long, and ended up being shocked by yet another outside force, quite literally, as a charged megawatt hit him square in the chest, disabling his arms. He jumped frantically, trying to regain control, but Min Min’s arms were already around him, and before he knew it, he had been dragon punched straight into the side of the bowl.

“ _Ooooh_ Ninjara has been caught off guard and is now paying the price! Could this be the end for The Student of Stealth, before he ever officially steps into the ring?!”

 _“That's a bit dramatic, don't you think, Biff?”_ Ninjara thought bitterly as he threw himself back onto his feet. Min Min was hopping from side to side, both ARMS back to her normal noodles. It was clear she was waiting for him to attack so she could take advantage of it. He faked a punch with his triblast, causing her to flinch and throw her megawatt in attempt to deflect the non-existent attack, and it's slow travel gave Ninjara enough time to block, vanishing once the attack hit and using her rebound time to grab her, bringing her into the air and slamming her back down.

“Wow, this ninja has once again made a point of giving Min Min a taste of her own ramen!” Biff chuckled softly and muttered into his mic, _“Get it? Ramen instead of medicine?_ ” Then cleared his throat and regained his announcer tone. “Perhaps there's beef between the two of these fighters, and that's the reason why we're all here to witness this battle!”

Ninjara didn't hear the announcer’s accurate assumption because the second the cook stood up she threw her dragon which locked onto his position and fired. He jumped out of the way just in time, feeling the heat on his foot as he dodged. While he was in the air he threw another throw, catching her as she wasn't able to retract her dragon in time to dodge. She panicked and tried to kick his ARMS away, but just threw herself off balance and ended up being grabbed lopsidedly by her opponent. Ninjara didn't have enough time to understand this situation, and pulled her up and slammed as he normally would. Because of the bad angle, he ended up slamming her to the ground by her face instead of by her stomach.

The crowd gasped and Biff went berserk. Ninjara blanched when he realized what happened and saw Min Min curl into fetal position on the ground.

“Min Min!” He cried, and dashed over to her, vanishing and reappearing knelt by her side. He carefully placed his triblast on her shoulder, concern blaring through his head.

“Min Min, are you okay?!”

He heard the younger girl groan before she looked up, embarrassed fury on her face, as well as some blood under her nose.

“YES!” She snapped, appalled that he would put on a show like this in front of a crowd. She shoved him away and got to her feet, but it was clear that the head trauma added to the still evident intoxication wasn't doing her any favours, and she would have fallen to the ground again if it wasn't for the ninja’s speedy rescue, supporting her in his arms.

“It seems like Min Min is really hurt! The match isn't over because of her ability to get up, but the fighting spirit seems to be lost as Ninjara seems more concerned for the well being of the other fighter than for securing his victory!” 

Ninjara scanned the crowd and saw the tiny yellow announcer in front of a row of distressed fans, holding a mic that seemed to be connected to nothing, his brow drawn in worry.

“Will this fight be continued?”

Ninjara shook his head, despite Min Min’s muffled objections. (“Over my dead body will I throw a match just over a bit of blood!”)

Biff gave a serious nod to Ninjara and turned around, waving his arms and pushing a few people away. “Alright people, show’s over! Give the kids some space, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here!”

Ninjara hurried to get Min Min inside, completely unaffected by the worried and disappointed sounds coming from the departing crowd.

（－－；) (･д･)

“I'm sor-”

“Ninjara, I swear to god, if you apologize one more time I'm going to dunk your head in boiling oil. I'm _fine_.”

This wasn't a complete lie. Physically she felt okay. She had taken far worse beatings in the past, and only begrudgingly let the match be dropped due to it being a personal skirmish, and the fact that being tipsy and tired on top of a bloody nose was not a good combination while fighting. Going inside and cleaning herself off while trying- and partially failing, evident by the unused ice pack in her hands -to avoid Ninjara’s attempts to help. The only reminisce of pain was a soft throbbing around her nose, which was easy to ignore.

But emotionally, her feathers were ruffled.

When she had cleaned herself up enough, she checked her phone for the time (it was 9:31), and saw that she had twelve unread messages from Ribbon Girl, two missed calls from Spring Man, and thirty seven frantic updates on various social media apps. She sighed heavily, realizing that her fight with the ninja had, indeed, been broadcasted.

She had turned off her phone when it began vibrating with a call from Mechanica, and threw it on a table to be properly ignored.

The general buzz that resonated in the heads of the two fighters had worn off, and Min Min had poured two glasses of water for them to help dab away the ache of dehydration. Following the loss of intoxication was the realization that what they had done was absolutely ridiculous. Did they really believe that fighting in an official ARMS Grand Prix public arena wouldn't attract any attention? Not to mention this had started over a silly anime dispute. They were left regretting their course of actions.

“I think its fair to say you won that match.” Min Min joked dryly, making Ninjara sigh.

“That's not how I wanted our first fight to go.”

Min Min looked up at the ceiling, remaining quiet for a moment. “Well…” She ventured, “How about we just pretend it didn't happen?”

Ninjara thought about all the people that witnessed the event, about Biff seemingly popping out of the ground at the sound of an ARMS Fight, and the absolute probability that most of it had been recorded for television. He sighed again.

“Yes. That sounds good.”

Min Min smiled at him, and he smiled back. They were in the living area of the noodle shop, which was just another area of the building separated from the restaurant by thick walls. No wonder it had looked smaller on the inside when he arrived. The fighters sat on a couch in a cozy living room. Min Min cradled the melting ice pack in her hands. Their masks lay on the table in front of them.

“So… Do you want to try again at hanging out some other time?” Min Min asked, then widened her eyes when she found the error of her wording. “Not to imply that this time was bad! It just got a bit out of hand… I was having a good time before the fight though. Well I mean, I enjoyed the fight, too. You're a really good sparring partner. So if you want to meet up again for some fighting practice or to… Watch some anime together… Or both. That would be fun.” She awkwardly fiddled with the hem of her shirt, not looking at the ninja.

Ninjara remained silent as he listened to her ramble, then blinked when he realized she was expecting an answer.

“Oh, uh, yes. I-I mean, I do want to hang out again. Really, anything's good.” He gulped, face warming up. Min Min smiled.

“Cool. How about… Tomorrow? We can meet up for lunch in town, then go to Spring Stadium to spar, then go back to one of our places to watch anime?”

Ninjara briefly wondered if she had planned the suggestion in advance before he answered. “That sounds great. I don't have any classes tomorrow, so I'm completely free.”

“Great! Oh, hand me your phone.” Min Min demanded, sticking her hand out and flapping her fingers, making Ninjara scramble to retrieve what she wanted. He unlocked the screen and handed it to her impatient hands, understanding her intent.

She took the cellular device and briefly figured out where things were, then hurriedly tapped away on the screen before handing it back to him.

“There! I'm in your contacts now. Text me when you get home, and we can figure out the plans.” She patted her lap in finality, and stood up. Ninjara followed her, and they walked to the entrance to the house portion of the building, which was a distance away from the main road, to which Ninjara was thankful. He felt the need to lay low even stronger than usual after the public mishap.

“Okay, I will. Tomorrow at noon for sure?” He asked, trying to calm down his quickened pulse. Min Min smiled softly.

“For sure. Oh, and… Whatever we watch, let's watch the subbed version.” She giggled at the ninja’s taken aback expression. “I won't be busy. Might as well enjoy the original.”

Ninjara couldn't help but smile. “Eh, I always watch the original. I'd like to see how the English VAs interpret things.”

Min Min smile widened. “We can watch both, then.”

The Student of Stealth’s words caught in his throat, and a muttered a breathy “Deal.”

“It's a date.”

(⺣◡⺣)♡* ( *∵* )

_It's a date. It's a date._

The words echoed in Ninjara’s head his entire trip home. He had stuttered a frantic farewell to the cook and made a hurried escape by vanishing a few times to get out of her line of sight quickly. Once he was he had to lean against a wall to catch his breath. When did he loose it? 

_It's a date. It's a date._

Each footstep on the pavement, each faceless person who passed him, chattering nonsense, each common sound of the city, it all sounded shockingly like _it's a date. It's a date._

When he finally arrived at his quad and went to his dorm, he threw the door shut and flopped on his bed, dropping his bag and just stared at the ceiling.

_It's a date. It's a date. It's-_

The soft sound of his text tone reached beyond the mantra, and he slowly sat up to dig the small device out of his bag, checking who it was from.

“MIN MIN” Read the contact line. He opened the text immediately.

“hey! i know i didnt put u in my phone, but im good at remembering numbers :3 kinda weird huh?? Haha I also know i asked u to text me, but im really tired and i have to go to sleep. text me in the morning okay! im an early riser Goodnight, Nin Nin <333”

Only at that moment did Ninjara actually process the meaning behind the sentence that had been playing on loop in his fuzzy mind.

_“Oh my god, she asked me out on a date.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dorks!!! Dorks in love!!
> 
> socksowachowskiscatboxers.tumblr.com/post/162554820133/the-first-gif-i-have-ever-made
> 
> Look at this garbage thing i spent too long making
> 
> EDIT: I corrected a few errors on my part. Dont be afraid to tell me if you see something wrong!

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a few weeks since I wrote this and I know I said I would regret putting my personal headcanons in there but it's been eating at me that my interpretation of the mask to arms relationship was way off. I attempted to rewrite it but it just is not the same. So I hope you're okay with my contingency errors! Forgive me!! """


End file.
